Overhead carrier for mail and the like.



. I P. W. MILLER. Q OVERHEAD CARRIER POE MAIL AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED DBO. 9, 1909. I 95 1 959 I Patented Mar. 15, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1. l

P. W. MILLER. OVERHEAD CARRIER FOR MAIL AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 9, 1909.

Patented Mar.15,1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT orrrcn- FRED W. MILLER,-OF MONROE. WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR OF'ONE-THIRD T RUDY SHOIBER AND ONE-THIRD TO JOSEPH TRI CKLE, 0F MONROE, WISCONSIN.

OVERHEAD CARRIER FOR MAIL AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 1910.

Application filed December 9, 1909. Serial No. 532.279. i

To all whom it may concern:

lBe it. known that I, Finn) XV. MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing, at "Monroe, in the county of Green and State of \Visconsin, have invented anew and useful Overhead Carrier for hlail and the 0 Like, of which the following is a specifica- "smaller scalethan Fig.

l'aterallv extending arm tion.

This invention relates to overhead carriers particularly designed for collecting and deliver-in; mail in rural districts.

()ne ofthe objects ofcthe invention is to provide apparatus ot'this character including a motor 1.'o n:lled car designed to travel continuouslvtrom the post otlice or other starting point until it arrives at its destina that, means being provided whereby, during, the movement of the carriage, the mail etc, along, the route can be automaticallv'. collected and deliveries made at predeteri'ilined points.

A still fnrther 'objectis to provide colleet ing and delivering mechanism which is of simple truction and which will operate to positively collect and deliver the mail.

With these and other objects in v ew the invention (onys'fists of certain novel details at construction and combinationsol parts hereinafter more full v desa'ibed and pointed out: in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown,

In said drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the carriage and the apparatus at one of the collecting and delivering stations. Fig. :2 is an enlarged section on line A ra 1. einLot' the elevating" arm at the station. said ar-nrbeing shown supportinga mail holder. Fig. a perspective view of a mail holder open. l{i g. 5 is a section on line. A I) but looking iii a direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow. said section being on a Referring to the figures by characters of reference, '1 deeig'nates a post having a 2 at the upper end thereof to which arcacounr-xcted trolley wires 3 and -.t. It is to bdaunlerstood that posts such as referred to are le cated at desired inis a detail view of the upper an elevating beam 8 may be pivotally connected to the post 1 at the place where the interchange of mail is to be etlected and this beam may be provided. at one end, with a lat *rally extending arm 5 terminating in a. linger 10 which extends in the. direction in which the movable carriage travels.

'lhe carriage used in connection with the apparatus consists of a longitudinally extending: bar it supported at its ends by hangers l2. llatcrally extendingarms 13 are formed at the upper endsot these hangers and constitut bearings for grooved supporting Wheels 14. These -wheels are mounted to travel upon the snpporting cable 6 and one of the wheels has a gear 15 revoluble therewith and meshing" with a gear 16 which is carried by one end of a drive shaft 17. Said drive shaft receives motion through gears 18 and 19 from a motor 20 which is supported above the bar 11 by means of a bracket 21. Trolleys 22 are pivotally mounted above the motor and carry wheels 23 which travel along the wires 3 and l. Arms 24 extend laterally from the ends of the bar on which is mounted an endless chain 26.

; said chain being provided at regular intervals. with outstanding lugs or teeth 27 provided for the purpose hereinafter set. forth. Additional arms 28 extend laterally from the bar 11. thew arms being" preferably L- shaped and supporting a guide bar 29 which extends close to and parallel with the upper run of thechain 2G and serves toprevent; the run from sagging. Another bar 2-30 is arranged under and parallel with the lower run of the chain. this bar being held in place by extending the front and rear ends thereof u nvardly to the ends of the baiw ll. which, as shown in Fig. 1, extend beyond the outermost: portions of the sprockets 25.

posts are pro-- The front end of the bar 11 merges into a pointed finger 31. 'This finger is located directly in front of the front sprocket 25. A retaining spring 32 is secured to the rear hanger 12 of the carriage'and bears upon the teeth 27 as they successively pass downwardly upon the rear sprocket 25.

The mail holding devices used in connection with theapparatus consist of bags or similar receptacles 33 the upper ends of which are provided with closures 34 which may be secured in closed positions by means of straps and buckles or the like. One of the closures of each receptacle has a supporting link 36 secured to it and extending upwardly therefrom, thisv link being C- shaped the distance between the terminals of the link being somewhat greater than the width of the bar 11.

It is to be understood that one of the mail receptacles which has beendescribed is to be provided for the distribution of mail to each patronand it is also to be understood that each patron is to have one or more of these receptacles in his possession.

40 the first station is placed with its link be; tween the last two teeth u on the upper In preparing the apparatus for use the various patron's place the mail to be delivered, in the receptacles 33 and after closing said receptacles place the links 36 on the 30 fingers 10 and then elevate said fingers so as to support the links in the path of the finger 31. At the post office orother distributing point a separate receptacle is pro vided for each patron and these receptacles are placed in proper succession upon the carriage with the links extending over and under the endless chain and between the teeth upon the upper run .of the same. For example the receptacle to be delivered at run and if no mail is to be elivered to the next or second patron the space between the next two teeth is left vacant. I If mail is to be delivered tothe third patron along the route a receptacle containing themailis placed with its link between the next set of teeth. This arrangement-is followed throughout the length of the carriage which, of course, must be sufficiently large to accommodate all the necessary receptacles. When the various links are in posi-.

tion they hang with the bar 11 extending between the terminals thereof, and it will be apparent that there is nothing in the.

path of the links to prevent them from being discharged from the end of the carriage when the mechanism is set in motion for that purpose.

After the various receptacles have been properly placed upon the carriage the trolley wheels 23 are placed on the wires-3 and 7 4t and the said carriage is thus caused to being driven by the current admitted there to t rough the trolleys. When the carriage reaches the first station along the route the finger 31 passes into the link 36 suspended in front thereof and forces the link off of its supporting finger 10, the said link thus assuming a position upon the rear portion of the fingerwhich, as shown in Fig. 1, is reduced, this reduced portion being indicated at 31. passes this station the trip ing plate 7 upon the arm 5 is struck by a lever 37 which is pivotally mounted on bar 11 and carries a pawl 38 which normally engages one of the teeth upon the upper run of the chain. A spring 39 serves to hold the lever 37 normally projected upwardly. When this lever 37 strikes the tripping device 7 'it is swun As the carriage travel along the cable 6, the motor 20 rearwardly and causes the pawl 38 to shi t onto the ground or into any suitable receptacle provided for it. During this rearward' movement of the upper run of the chain the front tooth of sald run will engage the link 36 of the receptacle 33- which has been deposited in the reduced portion of the finger 31 and will carry said link upwardly into position above the front sprocket 25. The spring 39 of course returns the lever 37 and pawl 38 to their initial positions after they have been actuated in this manner, it-be1ng understood that any suitable stop may be provided for limiting the upward movement of the lever.

It is to be understood that the operations ofrollecting and delivering receptacles are continued throughout the extent of the route traveled by the carriage and, if deturn to the starting point. U on the completion of the trip the receptac es originally placed upon the carriage will have been replaced automatically by receptacles in which mail has been placed by the patrons.

It isof course to be understood that various changes may be madein the construction and arrangement of the parts without.

'sired,-the said carriage can be caused to re departing from the spirit or sacrificing anyof the advantages of the inventionf What is claimed is 1. Apparatus of the class described cluding a supporting element, a mbtor propelled carriage mounted to travel upon said element, an endless carrier mounted upon said carriage and h'avlng spaced projections, receptacles,-support1ng evlces extending rier the connecting devices of receptaoles' supported 111 the path of the carriage, and means for automatically shitting the can,

rier to discharge a receptacle therefrom.

2. Apparatus of the class described in cltuling a motor propelled carriage, a collecting device in front thereof, means for holding a receptacle supporting link in the path of the collecting device, an endless carrier upon the carriage, tripping means for automatically slnftlng the carrier to engage and convey the link upon the carriage, said carrier constituting means for discl'iargingi' from one end ot the.

the links successively carriage.

3. Apparatus of the class described including a motor propelled carriage, a. collecting device in front thereof, means for holding a receptacle supporting link in the path of said device, an endless carrier upon the carriage, a tripping device. means on the carriage for engaging said device tov shift the carrier to engage and convey the 1 link upon the carriage, said carrier constiz tuting means for successively discharging the links from the rear end of the carriage,

and resilient retannng means cooperating with the carrier for retarding thet'liscluu-ge oz the links.

4. Apparatus of the class described including a motor propelled carriage, a col- 3 let-ting finger in front thereof, means for holding a receptacle supporting link in the path of the finger. an endless toothed-carrier movably mounted upon the carriage, a series of tripping devices, means upon the carriage for successively engaging said devices to impart an intermittent movementto the carrier, said carrier operating to an: gage the links supplied thereto by the finger and to-convey them along the carriage and discharge them from one end thereof, and a spring retaining device cooperating with the carrier to retard the discharge'of the links therefrom.

(S. apparatus of the class described including a motor propelledrcarriag'e, means t for holding a receptacle supporting link'in the path of the carriage, a collecting linger on said carriage for engaging the link, an endless carrier movably mounted upon the carriage, outstanding projections thereon, trip actuated means upon the arriage for imparting an intern'iittent movement to the carrier, said carrier operating to engage the links supplied to the carriage by the collecting linger and .to carry r-itl l links longitudr nally oi the carriage and discharge them from one end thereof.

7. ripparatus of the class described including a motor propelled carriage, a collecting finger atone .end thereof and having a reduced rear portion, means for holding a receptacle supporting link in the path of said linger, an endless carrier movably mounted upon the carriage, said carrier having outstanding projections, trip operated means upon the carriageft'or imparting an intermittent motion to the carrier to bring the projections successivelv into. engagej ment with the links supplied to the reduced 5 portion of the tiuger and to shift" said links longitudinally of the carriage and off of one end thereof,

Apparatus of the class described inless carrier movably mounted thereon, out- 1 standing projections upon said carrier, links embracing the carriage and bearing upon and sup 'iorted by the upper run of the carrier and located between the projections,

supported by each link and below the carriage, and trip operated means below the carriage for imparting an intermittent movement. to the carrier to discharge the links successively from one end of the carriage.

9. Apparatus ot' the class described including a motor propelled carriage, an endless carrier movably mounted thereon, uide bars disposed below the upper and lower runs respectively of the carrier. the said bars constituting supports for the runs to preventsagging, outstanding projections upon the conveyer, links embracing the carriage and bearing downwardly upon the upper run of the carrier, said links being located between the projections and being open at one side, a receptacle supported by each link, and trip operated means for intermittently shifting the upper run of the carrier in one direction to successively discharge the links from one end of the carriage.

10. Apparatus of the class deseribedineluding a motor propelled carriage, an endless carrier movably mounted thereon, guide bars disposed below the upper and lower runs respectively'pf the carrier, the said bars eluding a motor propelled carriage, an endeach link having an open side, a receptacle constituting suppprts for the runs to prevent sagging, outstanding projections upon the conveyor, links embracing the carriage and bearing downwardly upon the upper run of the carrier, said links being'located between the'projections and being open at one side, a receptacle supported by each link, and trip operated means for intermittently shifting the upper run of the carrier in one direction to successively discharge the links 10 from one end of the carriage, and a spring retainin devicebearing upon the rear por tion of t 1e upper run to retard the discharge of'the "links therefrom;

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own; I have hereto aflixed my signature 15 in the presence of two witnesses.

FRED W. MILLER.

Witnesses:

R. D. Gonmu, I HULDAH WAGNER. 

